Forbidden Love
by crazyforjohn
Summary: John Rowland is back after breaking it off with his fiance. But an old flame leaves a suspicious message on his answering machine. Will he revisit the past? Or move on? And what happens when someone from the past comes to find Gabrielle? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

John Rowland lay on his bed, staring up at the white ceiling. He had so much going through his mind, it was driving him crazy. He had been engaged to who he had thought was the most amazing girl in the whole world. But something happened to their relationship a couple of months ago, it began to fall apart, and they seemed to have fallen out of love. John had come home one day from work and found her in bed with her ex-boyfriend, which really, hadn't bothered him as much as you would think. It was almost a relief, an excuse to be done and move on. But John seemed to be moving backwards instead of forward.

There had been a message on his answering machine two days ago. From Gabrielle. The two of them had an affair while Gabrielle was married to Carlos. The message itself seemed harmless, but John could tell that she had a hidden agenda.

"Hi John, It's me, Gabrielle. I know we haven't talked in awhile, but I've heard that, um, you were unengaged. So, we should meet, for some coffee or something. Call me…. Please. Bye."

Just hearing her voice again was like going back in time, to a time when he was truly in love. Unfortunately, that love was unrequited, as Gabrielle refused to leave her husband. But now, from what John had heard through the grapevine, was that Gabby was single again. This would explain why she had left the message. Did she want him? Did he want to risk having his heart broken again?


	2. Chapter 2

"You did what?" Edie exclaimed, as the girls sat around the table for their weekly game of poker.

"I left John a harmless message. Big deal," Gabrielle replied, laying down two cards and picking up another two.

"Wait," asked Susan, "What did I miss?"

Gabrielle slammed her cards down on the table. "I don't see why everyone thinks I'm crazy. What's wrong with having coffee with a friend?"

"You mean, ex lover that you had an affair with when you were married to Carlos," Lynnette pointed out.

"Ya, but does it look like I'm married now? No it doesn't." Gabrielle pointed to her ring finger, which for once was bare. "Hey, I'm the only one here that isn't in a relationship. All you guys are married, or at least close to it." Her voice trailed off into a quiet mumble. "You'll have to excuse me." Gabrielle rose from her chair, grabbed her purse and walked out the door.

"Well, that was a little dramatic, don't you think?" Susan asked, pouring Bree a glass of iced tea, which overfilled and went all over the table. "Oops!"

Gabrielle sat on her front porch. She stared down at her hands, which were lacking a little something. "Uh, this is ridiculous! Why should I be sad?" she said to herself. "So what if I'm single."

"Why, hello there," said a voice coming from the shadows of her bushes.

Gabrielle stood up. "Who..who's there," she demanded.

A familiar face appeared. "Hello Gabby. I've been waiting for you."

"George?!" Gabrielle exclaimed. " I thought you were dead?"

"Yes, everyone seems to think that."

Gabrielle laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to understand."

"That wasn't me that day, at the hotel," he smiled, sending shivers down Gabrielle's back. "That was my identical twin brother, Gary. We were living a double life, playing the same person. He was the one obsessed with Bree. But me? No. I wanted you, not her."

Gabrielle didn't know what to say. She backed towards her front door, reaching for the keys in her purse. Meanwhile, George moved closer, making his way up the front steps. She grabbed her keys and went to unlock the door, when George poked something into the small of her back. It felt like a gun.

He leaned in closely, so closely that Gabrielle could smell the cheap cologne on his neck. It made her want to vomit.

"Don't scream, just open the door so we can go inside. We will sit, and have a nice cup of tea," George stated, so calmly that it was creepy.

Gabrielle swallowed hard. She nodded and opened the door. George gave her a nudge and they walked inside, closing the door behind them. He locked the door and turned to her.

"Shall we have some tea?"


	3. Chapter 3

John stared at the phone for what seemed like hours, but in reality it had only been a couple of minutes. He took a deep breath and picked up the receiver. He dialed Gabrielle's number before he could chicken out.

On the other end of the phone line, Gabrielle jumped at the sound of the phone ringing. She looked at George.

"Are you going to answer that?" George asked, resting his feet on the coffee table.

"I, um, don't know," Gabrielle replied.

"I think you should. We don't want people getting suspicious."

Gabrielle was confused, but picked up the phone anyways. "Hello?"

"Hey," John said, "It's me."

"Oh, hey John. What's up?" she asked nonchalantly.

"You left me a message. Remember?"

Gabrielle thought for a minute, and then replied. "Oh, right."

"So are you really wanting to go out for coffee, or was that just an excuse to get me to call you?"

"You want to go out for coffee?" said Gabrielle, looking at George, waiting for his reaction. All he did was smile and nod his head in approval.

"Are you all right?" a concerned John asked, noticing the tension in Gabrielle's voice.

She coughed. "Um, ya, I'm fine. Meet me at Timmy's in 20 minutes." Gabrielle hung up the phone. "George?"

"Yes?" he answered.

"I thought you were going to hold me hostage or something. Why are you letting me leave and go have coffee with a friend?"

George laughed. "Gabby, don't worry, I will be there. With you. Watching you." He rose from his chair and made his way over to her. "You will not mention anything, to anyone. Because if this gets out, and I can't have you anymore, then I will make sure that no one has you, ever again. Understand?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Yes," she replied, the wheels in her head turning, trying to figure a way out of this.

Meanwhile, John made his way to the coffee shop, trying to think of what to say to Gabrielle. He hadn't seen her in a long time, and he hoped he wouldn't get tongue-tied. Pulling into the parking lot and getting out of his Jeep, he made his way inside. He spotted Gabrielle sitting out on the patio, nervously fidgeting with her car keys.

"Hey," John said, pulling out the chair across from her. "Been waiting long?"

Gabrielle looked up, looking more beautiful then John had remembered. "No, I got here right before you did."

John smiled. "So, it's been awhile."

"Yes it has. So, what happened to little miss perfect peach of a fiancé?" she asked.

"It uh, didn't work out. I caught her cheating on me, with her ex-boyfriend."

Gabrielle looked around uneasily. "That is, uh, too bad."

John frowned. "Are you sure something isn't wrong? I mean, you seemed kind of spaced out on the phone, and…"

She cut him off before he could finish. "No, I'm fine."

He sat back in his chair. "Ok, ok, I'll stop asking you."

Gabrielle peered past John, and noticed George sitting at another table, wearing a hat and sunglasses, and pretending to read the paper. He smiled at her, and she turned her attention back to John.

She moved over a bit, so that John was blocking her view of George. "John," she said quietly, "I need you to help me."

"Help you?"

"Keep quiet, and pretend you are laughing at a joke or something."

John looked confused.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "I'm been stalked."

"What?!" he exclaimed, then remembered what she had just asked him to do. So, he laughed. "That is so crazy! I can't believe she did that!"

Gabrielle kept smiling as they talked, so George wouldn't get suspicious, or so she hoped. "Can you pick me up tonight, at midnight?" she asked, under her breath.

John continued to laugh, and then look a sip of his water. "Hell ya, for sure."

Gabrielle smiled, and then looked at her watch. "I must leave. Don't follow me out, please. He might notice." She extended her hand.

John stood up with her, shaking her hand. "It was nice to see you again. Keep in touch, Gabby," John said loudly, so that George would be able to hear.

She nodded and picked up her purse. "I shall. Goodbye John." Gabrielle walked away from the table, walking past George, her shoes clicking on the pavement.

George looked around, before getting up and walking off in the same direction as Gabrielle.

John remained at the table for a few minutes, processing in his mind what had just happened. Gabrielle was being stalked? By who? Now he was worried.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, George," Gabrielle started. "Um, are you hungry?"

"Sure," he replied, as the two of them stood in Gabrielle's kitchen.

Gabrielle looked around at what was on the counters, then made her way to the refrigerator. She opened the door. "Do you want some pizza?"

"You are acting quite coyly, considering the situation," George said.

She pretended to be shocked. "What are you talking about?"

George laughed. "Come on, I know what you are doing."

"Again, what are you talking about?" Gabrielle asked again, this time taking a big bite of her ham and mushroom pizza.

"Do you really think I am buying up this whole nice person act? I mean, I know you. I have known you for a while. You don't exactly have the reputation of being a friendly person, to people like me. If we had been in high school together, you wouldn't have given me the time of day," he stated.

"George, that's not tr…."

He cut her off. "And don't think that I'm going to let this get to me. I know you can be manipulative, and I bet you've had a hell of an escape plan running through your head since I came to you."

Gabrielle stood quiet. "I don't know what you are talking about."

George laughed, and then his expression changed. "Do you love me?" he asked quietly.

She nearly choked on her pizza. "Um, no, sorry…"she responded cautiously.

"I really want you to love me, Gabrielle. I do. I've loved you since the moment I first seen you. Although I may have went after someone else, I did it all to get close to you. Everything that happened was so that it would be just us. Together."

Gabrielle swallowed hard. "That's very sweet of you, George, but I'm not quite ready for a relationship at this moment."

George nodded. "Ok. I didn't expect you to feel the same right now. I mean, this must come as a shock to you. But let me tell you one thing. You will love me."

Later that night, after darkness had fallen, Gabrielle tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't sleep, knowing that George was sleeping on the floor outside her bedroom door. He had planned on sleeping in the chair next to her bed, but it made her a little uneasy. She had promised him that she'd be there in the morning. Not only that, but he checked in on her, every hour, on the hour. Her escape would have to be flawless, and at just the right time.

She glanced over at the digital clock on her nightstand. It read 11:55pm. George would open the door in 5 minutes, and John would be pulling up any minute. "How am I going to do this?" she thought to herself.

Slowly she rose from the bed and peered through the window. Sure enough, she could see John's truck parked on the street in front of her neighbor's house. Being as quiet as she could, she opened the window a tad, before crawling back into her bed and covering up, just as she heard George's watch alarm going off.

Gabrielle could see movement from underneath the door, as the handle slowly turned, and George peeked in. She shut her eyes quickly.

"Why is the window open?" George asked.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. "I was getting too hot."

His eyes narrowed. "Ok then, goodnight. My love."

Gabby wanted to roll her eyes in disgust, but kept it to herself. "Goodnight."

George shut the door, and all was quiet again. She wondered if she should wait a couple of minutes, or just go for it. Very slowly, and as quietly as possible, she stepped out of bed and grabbed her purse from underneath her covers. At the last minute, she went to the door and stopped for a second, listening for any movement. Gabrielle turned the lock until it clicked, then she turned and tip toed towards the window, pausing again to listen for signs that he had caught on. She slid open the window a bit more, enough for her to be able to get out. As she looked down at the bushes beneath her, she heard a knock on her door.

"Gabrielle?" came George's voice. He tried to turn the handle, and found it locked. He began to bang on the door. "Gabrielle!"

She threw her purse out the window, and then jumped into the bushes below. Wanting to curse, she grabbed her purse and ran across her front lawn towards John's truck. Glancing back at her house, she could see George leaning out her window, yelling something he couldn't hear, before disappearing.

"John, drive!! "she exclaimed, throwing the passenger door open and hopping in. She turned around to see George running across the yard towards them. "Go!" Gabby screamed.

John stepped on the pedal and squealed down the street, leaving a cloud of smoke behind them. Gabrielle ducked down as they drove past the houses of her dearest friends. Porch lights began to turn on as concerned neighbors came outside to see what all the commotion was.

"Where are we going?" John asked, his heart beating fast.

"Just…somewhere."


End file.
